A VOICE FOR THE NEEDS OF OLDER AMERICANS

Meals on Wheels America is engaged in ongoing advocacy to help local Meals on Wheels programs meet the needs of their communities. To that end, we build support on Capitol Hill and in the Administration to advance funding and policies that strengthen home-delivered and group setting (congregate) meal programs, the volunteers who make them happen and the seniors they serve.

We’re a voice for local programs on Capitol Hill, to ensure that local communities can serve a growing number of older adults and provide the support that enables them to live more nourished lives with independence and dignity.

1. Reauthorize and strengthen the Older Americans Act (OAA).

• Protect the OAA’s core purposes of reducing hunger, social isolation and loneliness, and improving older adult health and well-being.
• Increase authorized funding levels for all OAA programs and establish incentives and funding for enhanced nutrition services (e.g., medically tailored or culturally appropriate meals).
• Unify Title III-C to improve efficiency and enable local providers to more easily tailor services to seniors’ needs. 
• Prioritize community-based organizations for nutrition services contracts and improve the reimbursement and payment processes.
• Modernize the OAA to incorporate innovations, flexibility and successful practices leveraged during the pandemic. 

2. Increase funding and support for senior nutrition programs.  

• Provide $1.842 billion for OAA nutrition programs in FY 2025 to address increased demand for meals and rising operational costs. 
• Protect other federal funding sources supporting local Meals on Wheels programs, including Social Services, Community Services and Community Development Block Grants, and Medicare and Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS).
• Enhance the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP).
• Improve charitable giving and volunteer tax incentives to generate more resources and expand capacity for nonprofits, including passing the Charitable Act (H.R. 3435, S. 566) and Volunteer Driver Tax Appreciation Act (H.R. 3032, S. 3020).  

3. Expand nutrition access and social connection for older adults.

• Reauthorize and protect the nutrition programs in the Farm Bill, as well as improve access and support for older adults by including the Senior Hunger Prevention Act (H.R. 3474, S. 1036). 
• Advance Food as Medicine interventions such as establishing home-delivered meals provided by community-based providers as a fully reimbursable benefit through fee-for-service Medicare, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid and passing the Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Act (H.R. 6780, S. 2133).
• Address the epidemic of social isolation and loneliness declared by the U.S. Surgeon General through nationally coordinated awareness, initiatives and research, as proposed in the National Strategy for Social Connection Act (S. 2350) and Improving Measurements for Loneliness and Isolation Act (H.R. 6284, S. 3260). 

Meals on Wheels America 2024 Advocacy Agenda

Here are some of the ways we’re advocating for Meals on Wheels programs and the seniors they serve on Capitol Hill:

• Testifying before Congress
• Meeting with Members of Congress and their staffs
• Initiating Congressional letters of support for funding and policies that support Meals on Wheels programs
• Submitting written testimony to key Congressional Committees
• Providing oral statements at Congressional staff briefings 
• Sending letters to Members of Congress
• Signing onto national coalition letters
• Engaging Members of Congress through social media
• Assisting Members of Congress with connections to local programs to visit and/or deliver meals
• Undertaking research to help make the case for greater investment in nutritious meals for seniors and how our network is a part of the health care solution 
• Responding and reaching out to national press and media outlets
• Collaborating with national organizations and coalitions to strengthen our collective efforts and voice